Bruce Wayne Smith is an American animator, film director, film and television producer, and storyboard artist. He is best known as the creator of Disney's The Proud Family.
History[]
Born in 1961, Smith became interested in animation at an early age watching TV cartoons such as The Flintstones and The Jetsons and later drawing what he saw from memory. He would later see One Hundred and One Dalmatians which left a bigger impression on him seeing animation different from traditional Saturday morning cartoons. Smith later studied animation in the character animation program at the California Institute of the Arts.
One of the few black animators working in the industry, Smith got his start as an assistant animator for Bill Meléndez's 1984 Garfield television special Garfield in the Rough. He went on to animate for Baer Animation on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and in 1992, directed his first feature Bébé's Kids. Other notable work for Smith during the mid-1990s includes supervising the animation for The Pagemaster, serving as director and character designer for Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child, designing the characters for A Goofy Movie and C Bear and Jamal, and co-directing the animated segments of Space Jam. He was also was the creator of Da Boom Crew, along with John P. White and Stiles White.
In 1998, Smith joined Walt Disney Animation Studios. He served as a supervising animator on five of its films Tarzan, The Emperor's New Groove, Home on the Range, The Princess and the Frog, and Winnie the Pooh. In 2000, when he still worked for Hyperion Pictures, he piloted his series The Proud Family to Nickelodeon, who passed on it. Disney Channel eventually picked the series up the following year and ran it until 2005. The series was the first to be produced by his production company Jambalaya Studios. Smith revealed that producing the show under Jambalaya as opposed to Disney Television Animation allowed for more freedom on both production and the series itself. After The Proud Family originally ended, Smith folded Jambalaya Studios to return back to Walt Disney Animation Studios. The series would be revived in 2022 with The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.
Filmography credits[]
| Year | Film | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Animator: Additional Animation |
| 1995 | A Goofy Movie | Character Designer |
| 1999 | Tarzan | Supervising Animator: Kerchak and Baboons & Baby Baboon |
| 2000 | John Henry | Character Designer & Visual Development Artist |
| The Emperor's New Groove | Supervising Animator: Pacha | |
| 2001-2005 | The Proud Family | Creator / Co-Developer / Director / Writer |
| 2004 | Home on the Range | Supervising Animator: Pearl |
| 2005 | The Proud Family Movie | Director |
| 2009 | The Princess and the Frog | Supervising Animator: Dr. Facilier / Additional Voice |
| 2011 | Winnie the Pooh | Supervising Animator: Piglet, Kanga, and Roo |
| 2012 | Wreck-It Ralph | Additional Visual Development Artist |
| 2013 | Frozen | Additional Visual Development Artist |
| 2022-present | The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder | Creator / Executive Producer |
Animation[]
External links[]
